When does it pay to book a package holiday?

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Are you an independent traveller? Do you prefer to make your own arrangements, or relax and leave all the nitty gritty to a tour operator? The reason I ask is that I went to a presentation by Inghams about winter holidays this week where there was a lot of talk about how well ski holidays were doing, and the surging growth of trips to Lapland to see Father Christmas. But I was most interested in some comments about a perceived decline in the numbers of people booking their trips independently - as opposed to booking a package.

For obvious reasons, you always have to be wary when tour operators tell you this kind of thing. They clearly want you to believe in the value of what they do. But Inghams’ observations did seem to echo the findings of a recent independent report on the subject by the market research company Mintel, which suggested a similar trend. In the last year, sales of package holidays have, apparently, been rising at a higher rate than those of independent holidays. After years when travellers appeared to be steadily liberating themselves from the cosseting shackles of the packaged holiday, it seems there has been a slight turning of the tide.

Inghams’ theory is that this phenomenon is simply explained. People have tried making their own arrangements, and found that it was too much like hard work, and it was easier and more enjoyable to let the tour operator look after them.

But it seems to me that the picture is a bit more selective than this. Certainly, in areas where tour operators still have an advantage in the price, convenience and access they can offer, they seem to be doing well now that the economy has picked up.

I think that ski holidays to the big French resorts, where the transport infrastructure just doesn’t suit independent travellers, is a good example of this. Unless you drive (or in some cases take the train) all the way, just getting to the resort from the airport is expensive and tedious. Transfer fares are very high and timings tricky. And there is so much that can go wrong with the journey - winter weather often causes flight diversions, cancellations, long delays. Much much easier - and almost certainly cheaper - to let the rep take the strain in these situations. It’s a similar story with trips to Lapland - far less convenient and much more expensive to book flights and transfers independently. I’m not even sure if it’s possible to book an independent interview direct with the man in red.

Few people would require a tour operator for a weekend in Paris Photo: AP/FOTOLIA

But for some other types of travel - such as European city breaks, and villa holidays - where no-frills airlines and the internet have long empowered the independent traveller, tour operators now struggle to persuade us of the advantages of booking with them. We seem to be perfectly happy to go on making our own independent arrangements (despite the extra financial security offered by a package). How may people who have booked a Eurostar train to Paris, reserved directly with a hotel online, come home and think they would rather use a tour operator next time? Not many I suspect.

So, my hunch is that if the spectacular growth in independent travel has peaked, it is not because we don’t enjoy it per se. I think many of us find it exciting and liberating, and we enjoy the challenge. But what is certainly happening is that the tour operators which survive are the ones focusing on the types of holiday where they can still add value and improve your holiday experience, and winter holidays are prime territory for this.